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"I will remain in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, noting that if the conversation went well, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never truly downtime for prime ministers. In the hour before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his political fate are set to improve?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the prime minister is that a significant number of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to change. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration put in place during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from many directions for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, does he need a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as planned.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting obvious political risks as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely provoke accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to